One year with the OnePlus 7 Pro: Officially my favorite Android phone ever
Opinion post by
C. Scott Brown
One year ago today, OnePlus unveiled its newest flagship: the OnePlus 7 Pro . It was the first phone from the company with a “Pro” moniker and represented the absolute best-of-the-best specs and design for 2019 smartphones at that point.
I’ve been using the OnePlus 7 Pro as my daily driver ever since it launched. Over the past 12 months, it’s become not only my favorite phone of 2019 but my favorite Android phone…ever. Every phone I’ve read about or even had the chance to use since hasn’t topped it.
Now, I don’t want you to think that this is going to be a OnePlus puff piece. The phone is far from perfect and there are plenty of things I would change about it if I could, which I’ll get to in a bit. But after a full year of using the OnePlus 7 Pro every single day, I can’t help but still be incredibly impressed.
€599
.00
OnePlus 7 Pro
Buy it Now
OnePlus 7 Pro
Buy it Now
€599
.00
The OnePlus 7 Pro display won me over
Credit: David Imel / Android Authority
Before I owned the OnePlus 7 Pro I owned the OnePlus 6T . That phone came out only six months prior to the OnePlus 7 Pro. Since the 6T was still pretty new, I saw no reason to upgrade, at least at first.
I changed my mind immediately, though, when I first used the 7 Pro. Although the display on the OnePlus 6T was really good, it couldn’t hold a candle to the OnePlus 7 Pro display. The better resolution, higher refresh rate , and the fact that there was no notch of any kind and ultra-thin bezels instantly made my OnePlus 6T seem ancient in comparison.
Related: Not all 120Hz displays are made equally, and here’s why
In fact, the display is the main thing that, so far, has prevented me from lusting after any other phones. The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is a specs beast with an incredible display, but it has a cutout at the top that interrupts its beauty. The Google Pixel 4 XL has a similar resolution and the same 90Hz refresh rate as the OnePlus 7 Pro but it has sizable bezels that make it feel less premium. Even phones available here in the US without notches and bezels — such as the Asus Zenfone 6 — haven’t had the same resolution, refresh rate, etc.
In terms of balancing design and quality, the OnePlus 7 Pro display just hasn’t been beaten yet — not even by OnePlus itself!
Performance and battery have been stellar
Credit: David Imel / Android Authority
For a phone to work as my daily driver, it needs to be dependable above all else. It needs to have long battery life and it needs to do what I need it to do when I need to do it....
